ROTU: Chapter Eighteen

Jalena's thoughts remained distracted throughout the next week until, as promised, she arrived at Nadia's doorstep Christmas day with a bottle of wine in hand. In her other arm, she held the presents she bought for Nadia's children.

She looked around at the strips of lights and Christmas decorations across Nadia's house and yard, comparing them to her own non-Christmassy home. The neighborhood lights and trees were beautiful but was just something Jalena did not get into the spirit of. She supposed it might be different if she had kids or could remember her Christmases as a child, but like many things in society, most holidays felt foreign to her.

"Hurry and come in out of that cold," Nadia said as she opened the door and hugged Jalena tight to her. "Tyler is upstairs. John is with Zane in the living room." She looked at the packages Jalena carried. "I told you no presents!"

"Buying for the boys doesn't count," Jalena said with a grin as she stepped inside and handed Nadia the wine. "Smells great."

"I hope you are hungry," Nadia replied. "I'm gonna open this." She disappeared into the kitchen.

"You need me to help?" Jalena called after her.

"No, just go into the living room. I'll be there in a bit."

Jalena made her way into the living room and put the presents under the Christmas tree. She greeted Nadia's husband and two-year-old son, Zane. John stood, lifted Zane to his hip, and kissed Jalena on the cheek. "Good to see you again, Jess."

"You as well."

She turned to Zane and chuckled as she took in his wild blonde hair, which stood on end. "Look at that hair," she said as she lightly touched Zane's head.

Jalena's smile disappeared. She instantly stepped back and placed a hand over her left eye as a sharp pain suddenly pierced her forehead.

"Jess, are you okay?" asked John in concern. "Nadia," he called out.

"Yeah, just a sharp pain," she replied quickly. The throbbing in her head increased. She closed her eyes as a sea of blurry faces sharpened within her mind…

She had just entered a large home. Her eyes locked with the same man from her dream. His gaze reflected surprise. She felt relief at seeing him, but also felt irritation because she knew he had been avoiding her.

Making sure her expression did not reveal her annoyance, she eyed the small bundle in the man's arms, turned to a woman with curly red hair, and held out her gift. "For Sheldrían and his nán."

"Thank you, Master Jalena," the woman said as she accepted the gift. "This is very kind."

"Can we get you a glass of wine or something, dear?" another woman asked Jalena.

Jalena smiled lightly. "Only if I can hold a baby in my other arm."

"Of course!"

Another man, who Jalena knew to be the baby's father, approached Jalena and handed Sheldrían to her.

"Look at that hair," Jalena said with a grin as she took the baby from the man's arms…

"Jessica." Nadia's voice interrupted Jalena's thoughts as the scene faded.

Jalena shook her head as the pain reduced. She looked around in confusion, unaware that she had walked to the sofa.

Nadia was holding a glass of water before her.

"Thank you," Jalena said as she took the water.

"What happened?" Nadia asked. "Did a memory of your childhood return?"

Jalena shook her head. "I had a flash, but I don't know. Just a headache, I think..."

A restless feeling took hold of Jalena as the evening passed. She drank more wine than she normally did at dinner in an attempt to keep focused on the current conversation. By the time she left Nadia's house, however, a multitude of thoughts about her vision rushed to the forefront of her mind.

The petite woman with red hair had called her Master Jalena. It was the third time someone had called her that. First, the man she had seen in her vision during her stay in Japan, then the man she locked eyes with—the same one who had asked her to marry him in her dream. There was a familiarity with the people she saw in the home. She knew they were a family. She also knew she loved the man with the strange eyes, but who was he and where was he now? And why did the others not have the same red ring within their eyes? Why did the woman call her Master?

Her mind rehearsed the scene again on the walk home as she gnawed on the candy cane she took from Nadia's tree. She lit the wood resting in her living room fireplace and sat in her recliner for several hours, staring out the patio doors at the moonlit winter scene behind her house.

She waited for more information to add to her vision, but there was only a blank before and after the scene. It wasn't until after midnight that she fell asleep in the recliner by the fire with Haku on the rug at her feet. In the calming space of her home, her buried memories became active once more…

Jalena stared at the Tran Ceiabré for a moment in silence, watching the water cascade into the pool below. She took a deep breath and held her arm out over the water, palm up. A stream of white light began to formulate the head of a white flower in the palm of her hand as if the light was drawing a simple sketch of the flower. She knew the flower—a monarosia. The light faded and a real flower sat in her hand.

She studied her creation for a moment before gently laying it in the pool and slowly stood to watch the current carry the flower away.

"Nán always liked the white ones, but the blues are prettier, don't you think?" she said.

The man from her visions was staring at the flower with an expression of awe. He looked up. "How did you do that?" he whispered.

"Hmm?"

"The flower, Jalena. How did you make it?"

"Oh!" she said, turning back to him. "I forgot you didn't know yet…It's Alchemy."

The scene shifted…

Haku stood quickly to her feet and whined as she watched Jalena suddenly jerk in her sleep.

Jalena was sailing through the air, willing her speed to increase and at the same time reaching for a large, unconscious muscular man falling rapidly to the ground beneath her. She prepared herself to pull his energy into hers as she grabbed him. His silver-red-haloed eyes opened wide in surprise as she activated her charisma. A surge of power flooded through her, and the two disappeared before they slammed into the ground.

The man drew Jalena tight to him and turned her away from the mountain just as his back hit the rocks and dirt along the side…

Haku's sudden howl erupted as Jalena gasped loudly.

Jalena jerked to a sitting position as her eyes flew open. Blue-white light spilled from them, flooding the entire room. She tried to stand, but the pain in her head and body dropped her to her knees.

Haku whimpered as Jalena closed her eyes, her mind racing as fast as her heart while the rest of her memories surfaced and gathered momentum...

…She broke Mordán's hold as her Reserve ignited and shattered the suppression bind he had snapped around her neck—Gyan's blade pierced Mordán's neck—she stood in Gawl Forest before Ralian in the middle of her unconscious teammates as the swords formed the Lumfáinne above them—Shamira and she fought the Avehkal and Vaznaun together on the outskirts of Androsa—Gyan looked at her fiercely just before the Lumfáinne activated during the battle at Yevani—she fell to her knees from the unbearable pain in her chest as Gyan's absence filled her…

Jalena's body stilled as her mind darkened, and she passed out on the rug next to Haku.

Haku licked Jalena's face gently and lay down beside her. A whine escaped her as she laid her head on her paws, but her eyes remained watchful as she waited for her light warrior to wake.

***